628 swanton: catawba notes 



them. It is not believed that the speech of men and women 

 differed, but the present condition of the Catawba language is 

 such that this statement has little value. 



Bodies of the dead were anciently put under the beds inside 

 of the houses themselves, some person making a speech on the 

 occasion. If one died in the morning he was buried the same 

 evening; if in the evening he was buried next morning. As soon 

 as a death occurred three live coals were placed upon each piece 

 of cold bread in the house so that the ghost of the deceased 

 would not eat it, and no food of any kind was taken by the 

 people of the household until after the body had been laid away. 

 In the intervening period they frequently warmed their hands 

 at the fire and then rubbed their faces with them; otherwise they 

 feared that the skin of the face would become drawn up and 

 wrinkled something like the skin of a chicken. 



When a partridge (ipaka) went through the yard it was a sign 

 that someone in the house would soon die. When the calf of 

 the leg twitched it was a sign that someone was coming. When 

 the arm twitched it was a sign that someone was coming on 

 horseback. When the mouth or eye twitched it was a sign that 

 the person to whom this happened was going to mourn over a 

 death in the family or some other severe affliction. 



A relic of the belief in witchcraft is preserved in the story of 

 a woman who once turned into an owl, went out of the house 

 through her chimney, and stole chickens which she brought back 

 in the same way. 



At one place in Catawba River is a row of rocks where noises 

 are sometimes heard, said to be caused by old Indians crossing 

 there. At a place near the reserve known as "the old Indian 

 town" people are sometimes heard dancing and singing. Close 

 to the river there, a man once saw a woman dressed in the ancient 

 manner, with a bundle on her back and bow and arrows ( !) . She 

 disappeared suddenly. 



Aside from these tales I learned of only one story that has the 

 appearance of an aboriginal Indian tale, and of this only in 

 outline. It relates that a child was once stolen away from its 

 mother, and the latter began hunting for it. She asked the 



